Hymn of Kisses
by KaleidoscopeOfWords
Summary: You don't get to choose who you end up with, not really. It just ends up that way.  Shikamaru&Temari drabbles
1. Impulsive Excuse

**Impulsive Excuse**

She listened, listened real hard.

But there was no sound, nothing.

No wind in the trees, no people on the streets, no insects chirping, no breathing.

She turned to the man next to her. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

It was the worst kind of silence, because she was losing him, and when she opened her mouth, nothing came out either. She was falling into an abyss of silence where she could do nothing to stop the pounding in her ears.

She jerked awake, her eyes snapping open, and sat up with a hand over her heart.

When she could hear the sound of her breathing (gasping, panting), she relaxed. But only for a moment.

The silence in her hotel was still deafening.

She rose from her bed, slid her coat on, and grabbed her key from the table. She glanced around the room and located a familiar box of cigarettes.

It was weak, but she needed an excuse to show up at his place in the middle of the night.

(She didn't need an excuse, not really. But it smothered her fear of rejection.)

When he opened the door, he didn't wait for her to explain herself, didn't even look surprised. He merely opened it a bit wider, and she slipped in, the box of cigarettes never leaving her coat pocket.

.

.

.

**xx Not your typical Temari. Ah, well. (:**


	2. Public Tolerance

**Public Tolerance**

They weren't in a relationship, not really.

They only tolerated each other in public and even then it sometimes wasn't enough.

When they talked, there was a good chance it'd end up an argument.

(And there was a good chance that argument would end up in them not talking to the other for a day or two.)

Sure, they were together all the time. And yes, they attended all the social events together. But that was merely because they had nobody else.

You don't get to choose who you end up with, not really.

It just works out that way.

.

.

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**xx I'll try to add some dialogue in the next chapter or two. **


	3. First Impression

**First Impression**

There are some things you wouldn't know about her by first impression.

For one, she loved fruit. She always talked about how she never ate enough of it when she was a kid, and now she has to catch up. He takes her to the market sometimes and stands idly while she makes her selection of different fruits he has never heard of before.

Another, she hated the rain. People think she'd enjoy it because out in Suna, you don't see much rain. And it's true, most people tend to find it refreshing when it rains out there. But not her. When her mother died, it was a rare day of nonstop torrents of rain. When it rains, as it often does in his village, he doesn't say anything when she lies in bed with a pillow over her head and refuses to get up. In the end, they leave under an umbrella, which she holds the entire way.

Lastly, she sometimes wonders what it would be like to have a family. She told him this one day, and somehow, after being with her for a few years, he isn't surprised. But he knows other people would be. She told him how she pictures herself having a little boy – _I'm not saying I'd be a good mother, but if I had a little boy, at least I'd have somewhere to start since I took care of _my_ brothers and all_ – and how she knows it'll never happen because she's a ninja, and she loves it too much to give it up.

He told her if she ever wanted to reconsider, he'd always be there.

That night she dreamed of having three little girls all screaming and crying, and her not knowing what to do, tired and _sick of the color pink_.

She decided that she still needed a few years to get it all straight.

.

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**xx Yeah, I don't really know. Shikamaru didn't play a big part, but I liked his blunt way with words. (:**


	4. Predictable Process

**Predictable Process**

"It's your fault."

She didn't look at him in the eye after she said it, just casually went along watching the clouds from the park bench where they sat. He was busy ruffling through some papers with a bored expression on his face, clearly disgusted with the task.

"It's your fault leaving's so hard."

He froze at her bold statement, processing what it meant in a thousand different ways, no doubt. He'd never be able to handle a woman at that rate; Temari smiled, grabbing her fan and standing up. She walked a few paces away, glancing back at him, still sitting stunned with papers strewn everywhere. With a small wave, she turned and kept walking on towards the gates.

It took him a little less than 90 seconds to catch up with her.

"Then don't leave," he told her breathlessly, grabbing her wrist and turning her to face him, his eyes expectantly searching hers.

Nodding, she fell in step with them as they returned to his house together.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**xx There's so many ways to have Temari in their relationship. Would she initiate the first move, or would she wait for someone who could take initiative for once in her life? **


End file.
